Australia captain Michael Clarke has set his sights high ahead of a gruelling year of test cricket for his side. "I make no bones about the Australian team getting back on top," Clarke said, with his team currently lying in third in the test rankings.

Clarke, who took over from Ricky Ponting as the Australian test captain in early 2011, faces a tough challenge in trying to revive the glory years of the early 2000’s and go into the upcoming series with South Africa as underdogs.

But Clarke feels that their recent home demolition of India should stand his young test side in good stead. "We started well against India and we are wanting to build on that," Clarke said. "It is a really exciting time for this young side."

Where in the past the Australian side could rely on stand out individual performances from the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, Clarke knows that his side will need to work together to get back to the top of the test rankings and he is confident that his team have the determination to succeed. "I can guarantee you it certainly won't be lack of work ethic that lets the Australian cricket team down" Clarke said.

Australia are currently behind South Africa and England in the test rankings and they will face both of these sides in the next year. Clarke knows that these series could define his time as captain of his country so he is keen to ensure that his team take care of the Proteas before worrying about the Ashes; "It's a really exciting 12-15 months, as big a time that I will have in my career” Clarke said.

"We have some really tough opposition in South Africa, the number one side in Test cricket, coming to Australia very soon and our main focus is on that," he added.
Australia’s first Test against South Africa begins in Brisbane on 9th November and if Michael Clarke can inspire his side to defy the cricket betting odds, then they could well take their first step towards regaining top spot.

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Australian Test skipper Michael Clarke believes the country’s Twenty20 squad have the ability to win the upcoming World Cup in Sri Lanka which all gets underway on September 18.

Clarke will not feature in the tournament later this month, having decided back in January that he would focus on playing for the Australian Test and one-day teams.

The Aussies are considered outsiders according to the T20 world cup betting odds and sit in ninth place in the Twenty20 world rankings. However, the Test captain believes there is enough talent in the squad to win the upcoming tournament.

Clarke said: "I think we can win the Twenty20 World Cup for sure. "We've got the talent, I think we showed that in the last game against Pakistan in the UAE. "We've showed it in patches over the last couple of years and we made the final last time around and I hope we can go one better."

There is no doubting there has been a steady decline in Australian cricket as the dominant force of the game over recent years but there have also been recent signs the side are improving in all forms of the sport. With the loss of the likes of Shane Warne, Glen McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist in a relatively short space of time, it would be hard for any team to maintain the high standards that we have come to expect from the Aussies.

However with young players coming through and a strong willed captain in the in the form of George Bailey, they certainly have the potential to go far in the upcoming World Cup and even challenge for the title in the subcontinent.

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